Absentee ballots for the Fairport Central School District’s 2020-21 school budget vote and board election along with the Public Library’s budget and board election have been mailed out to all residents in the District.
Qualified voters who did not receive an absentee ballot may request one by contacting Deputy District Clerk Taylor Buffa via email at tbuffa@fairport.org. We are no longer able to mail additional ballots. Rather, the District Office will be open for a limited time to pick up the extra ballots. There will be no additional ballot requests after 5 p.m. on June 9. Please contact Taylor Buffa to arrange a time to pick up the extra ballots.
In order to be counted, hand-delivered absentee ballots must be received by 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 9. Fairport residents may submit their ballots in a secure drop box next to the front door of the District Office building located at 38 West Church Street. The secure drop box ends June 9 at 5 p.m.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new executive order on Sunday, June 7 for the annual School Budget Vote and Board Elections. The order extends it for any received by mail to June 16. However, all hand-delivered ballots must still be submitted by 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 9.
The budget related propositions are on one side of the ballot, and voters can simply vote yes or no on each proposition by marking a single “X” or a single “✔” in the box related to the resolution/proposition.
The ballot also contains the names of the candidates running to be a school board member and public library board member. Voters can vote for three school board candidates and one public library candidate by marking a single “X” or a single “✔” in the box related to the candidate. To vote for someone who is not on the ballot, voters can simply write in the name of a person they would like to nominate in the space provided. All ballots come with instructions on how to fill it out.
Absentee ballots are mailed along with two different envelopes – an oath envelope and a postage-paid return envelope. Votes should be cast on the absentee ballot, and then the ballot must be inserted inside the oath envelope and sealed. Voters need to fill out their name, residence, and related information on the front of the oath envelope, and then they need to sign and date the back of the oath envelope. In order for votes to count, the back of the oath envelope must contain a date and the voter’s signature. The oath envelope should then be inserted into the postage-paid return envelope and mailed back. Ballots must be received by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. Residents can also choose to drop off ballots in the secure drop box outside the District Office, located at the main entrance at 38 W. Church St., Fairport, NY.
When the District receives return envelopes containing absentee ballots, they open up the return envelope and take the sealed oath envelope out, mark down the date it was received and voter information for the poll list only, and set it aside unopened in a secure area until the day of the vote. The oath envelope is not opened at this time.
The counting of ballots cannot begin until June 16 after 5 p.m. On this day, the oath envelopes are further reviewed by election inspectors to confirm its validity before opening. As each envelope is opened, the ballot will be removed without being unfolded and placed in a ballot box. This box will be taken to a different election inspector, who will unfold and record the votes. This tally will be double-checked by another election inspector before the votes are officially recorded. This allows your vote to remain secret. No one will know which ballot came from which envelope.
Election inspectors trained by the Monroe County Board of Elections will participate in the process to ensure all rules are followed. It could take several days to count all of the ballots, as this process will be done by hand.
Qualified voters who did not receive an absentee ballot or need extra ballots may request so by contacting Deputy District Clerk Taylor Buffa via email at tbuffa@fairport.org.
Learn More about the 2020-21 School Budget Vote & Board Elections: